Zach Wilson remains in concussion protocol, Jets head coach Robert Saleh said Wednesday.
Asked about Wilson’s potential availability for Sunday’s game against Washington, Saleh said, “We’ll see. I’m not closing the door.”
Wilson left last week’s loss to the Dolphins before halftime with a head injury and will have to go through several more steps in order to be eligible to play Sunday.
He’ll likely need to be back on the practice field, at least in limited form, Thursday to have a chance to face the Commanders.
Wilson’s mother, Lisa, said in an Instagram post Monday that Wilson didn’t tell the coaching staff or medical team about the extent of his symptoms until he began suffering blurred vision and issues with his depth perception.
Asked about Wilson not being pulled until after those occurred, Saleh said, “Sometimes we don’t always catch [head injuries]. That’s why we have NFL spotters. But players do not want to come off the field. We always encourage them to communicate.”
He also noted Wilson’s competitiveness.
Jets quarterback Zach Wilson left Sunday’s game against the Dolphins with a concussion. Getty Images“Credit to Zach, he will fight,” Saleh said. “I always say, no matter how many hits he’s taken, how many times he’s running for his life, he always comes back to the huddle and he’s come back and he’s fought. I have a great appreciation for him, but at the same time, thank goodness it was spotted and we could get him the care he needs.”
If Wilson is unable to go, the Jets would again turn to backup QB Trevor Siemian, who replaced Wilson against the Dolphins.
“At this point in my career, any chance I get to play is awesome,” Siemian said. “If it happens, I’ll be ready. If not, I’m hoping Zach is coming back and feels all right.”
Among the Jets’ problems this season has been an inability to keep the offensive line healthy, which is why, as Saleh said, Wilson has had to resort to “running for his life” at times.
The team is already trying to figure out why that unit has been so injury-riddled, while other organizations have kept their entire offensive line healthy throughout the season.
“There’s definitely something,” Saleh said of what other teams have succeeded with. “Something that we’ve been studying over the last couple weeks to try to get a beat on it and try to get a head start, because knock on wood, for the most part, the roster’s been healthy. It’s that group for the last two years that’s taken a beating, so there’s definitely information out there that we hope we can merge to keep the roster healthy, but at the same time, there’s something with the [offensive] line group that is different.”
Robert Saleh speaks before Jets practice on Dec. 20, 2023. Bill Kostroun for the NY PostHe pointed to what his teams have done with the defensive line, using a rotation to keep players fresh. They may integrate some of that on the offensive side.
“There’s definitely something with the offensive line that we’ve already started to deep dive on to get rectified over the offseason,” Saleh said.
Saleh also changed the team’s practice schedule this week, a result of getting “beat up” against the Dolphins.
“We kind of got beat up in the Miami game,” Saleh said. “Not from a year-ending injury standpoint, but it was a rough one. And I just wanted to make sure we focused a lot on [recovery] and getting our bodies back.”






